Brophy and Mariano Lead the Way as Men's Volleyball Sweeps Belmont Abbey for First Win of 2013

MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Rallying back in sets two and three, host Pfeiffer University was able to complete a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) sweep over visiting Belmont Abbey College in Conference Carolinas men’s volleyball action on Thursday night. The victory evens the Falcons to 1-1 on the year both overall and in league play, while the Crusaders suffer their first loss of the season dropping to 3-1, 1-1.

Tied at 18 in the opening set, a pair of back-to-back kills from Micah Bortner (Dallastown, PA) would give the Falcons a lead for good at 20-18. After a pair of Belmont Abbey errors, a final put down from Kyle Mariano (Kendall Park, NJ) and Bortner would help provide a 25-20 set and 1-0 match lead.

In the middle stanza, six Pfeiffer errors with an Evan Young (Tampa, FL) kill mixed it shot Belmont Abbey out to a 10-4 lead early on. Clawing back in the set, Fabio Diniz (Sao Paulo, BRAZIL) scored the equalizer with a kill knotting the match at 14 apiece. Pfeiffer would again hold the lead to close out the second set as two more kills from Mariano along with a pair from Caleb Brophy (Mission Viejo, CA) rallied the Falcons back for a 2-0 match lead.

Pfeiffer again had to play a little catch up in the third set trailing 11-8 after a Derek Sullivan (Midlothian, VA) kill for the Crusaders. Mariano would again lead the way tying the contest at 12-12 before two-straight Belmont Abbey errors gave the hosts just enough breathing room to maintain a lead throughout. Bortner would add two more kills during the second half of set three while Pfeiffer took advantage of eight Crusader errors registering the sweep.

Brophy led all attackers on Thursday with 16 kills on the night followed by Mariano’s 12. David Specian (Loxahatchee, FL) led with 36 assists while libero Mark Hess (Lebanon, PA) popped up 13 digs. Nolan Albrecht (Naperville, IL) would lead the Crusaders with 10 kills in the loss.

Pfeiffer will remain in Conference Carolinas play traveling to King on Saturday afternoon. Match time is set for 3:00 p.m.